Page 24 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

He gathered up the packages, already wrapped care of several kind store clerks, and sprinted up the front steps.Play it like a delivery guy.In and out. Chase knocked on the door, balancing the gifts in his arms.

“Coming,” Tana called from inside. She opened the door a moment later with a little plastic tray in her hand—one of those microwavable meals. Her face flushed deeply. “Hey, Chase. How’s it going? Wait—what’s that?”

I want to be in your bed again.“Good. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Following her gaze, he glanced down at the bundle in his arms. “I bought some skis for Lindsey—they’re a birthday present.”

Tana frowned. “Oh, Chase, you don’t have to do that kind of thing.” She looked wary.

“I’m glad to do it. I wanted to. Lindsey’s going to be a great skier, and why not do it on some cool skis that are a better fit for her?”

She hesitated, and he remembered the way she’d held back at the lost and found. But then her eyes slid over the skis, and Tana’s face brightened. “You’re impossible to stop. Did you know that?”

“I can be pretty persistent, yeah. But this delivery won’t take that long.” He felt slightly ridiculous, standing on her porch and holding an armful of presents. “I wanted you to know that I talked to my brother today. Jonas. He’s the one who—”

“You should come in. It’s cold out.” Tana stepped back to let him into the narrow front hall. “I’ve got a few minutes before I have to head out.”

“Where to?”

“To get Lindsey from school. I got lucky today—a lesson ended early and I had some spare time to stop at home and eat. Makes the evening lessons better when you’re not hungry.” The fridge opened and closed, and water ran in the sink.

Chase shut the door with an elbow. She didn’t have much time, so he couldn’t linger here, watching the way her dark hair spilled over her shoulders.

“What was it you wanted to talk about?” Tana came back out of the kitchen and put her hands in her pockets.

“I finished the job today. With the applicants. I turned in the list and told Jonas I won’t be helping with the final interviews. I just wanted you to know that I’m not part of the process anymore. You don’t have to worry about things between us affecting anything to do with your application.”

Oh,great.“Things between us” sounded awfully official—like he’d just asked her to be his girlfriend. He hadn’t, not exactly. The pressure seemed to fill the room.

She looked away, then back at him, concern shining in her eyes. “I’m...glad you’re doing things by the book, I guess, but Chase—you can’t tellanybodyabout us. It still doesn’t look good. You’ve got to swear.”

Chase knew Tana’s biggest concern was being thought of as someone who’d slept her way to the top. She had integrity. But a smaller, more insidious voice whispered in the back of his mind that it could also be that she was embarrassed to be seen with him. He wasn’t good enough for anything more than a fling.

His ex-girlfriend drove that point home when she left after the accident. She didn’t even pretend to care by visiting him in the hospital. She’d simply moved out, taking everything they’d ever purchased as a couple, which was pretty much everything except his personal belongings and his trophies.

“I won’t. I promise.” Now he felt like a massive fool. He’d come here with gifts as if he had a right, and what Tana really wanted was for him to back off.Wayoff.

Tana worried at her bottom lip with her teeth, cheeks still pink. She didn’tlooklike a woman who wanted nothing to do with him. His body responded despite himself, warring with his mind. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“While you’re thanking me...” Could hebeany more awkward in this situation? “Like I said, I brought some gifts for Lindsey. I wanted to get her something.” He stepped forward and handed her the gifts.

“Oh—thank you, Chase. I’m sure she’ll love anything you’ve picked out. I just wish you hadn’t gone overboard with the skis.”

They stood close together now, the presents the only barrier, and Chase was transfixed. Tana’s dark eyes were the most complicated shade of chocolate and gold he’d ever seen. Her lips were full, perfect...and begging to be kissed. She took shallow breaths.

Chase’s heart pounded. Could he handle another crushing disappointment after his accident? Was Tana worth the risk? It would be the end of him, just like it had been the end of his skiing career. But he couldn’t resist the hot pull between them.

“Here,” he said, his voice thick. “Let me just—” Chase took the packages out of her arms and set them on the kitchen counter, propping the skis in the corner. One step back, and he took Tana in his arms.

She melted into him, tiny moans of pleasure coaxing him toward more. Tana kissed him back, hard. It wasn’t right, he knew it wasn’t right—or at least it was dangerous. But this wasn’t a relationship, was it? This was two adult people who needed each other. Physically.

Tana undid the zipper of his coat and pushed it off his shoulders, and after that it was a race between them to see who could get naked first. Tana won, stripping down to nothing seconds before he stepped out of his pants. Their bodies came together again, and Chase felt like an electric light—burning up everything around them.Bedroom,he thought through the haze of touching her.

Somehow, they made it, though Tana bumped into the wall halfway down. This time, she pushed him back onto the bed and crawled over him, pressing heated kisses onto the ridges of his abs and all way up to the line of his jaw. She kissed him while she reached for her nightstand.

Her arms didn’t quite make it, and he rolled her closer, holding her tight around the waist.

Tana ripped the foil packet open and deftly slid it on for him.

“You don’t have to do that.” He pulled her on top of him and kissed the hollow between her breasts. “I can handle it.”

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